A 28-year-old woman’s birthday celebration in Türkiye took an unexpected turn after she was hospitalised for a stroke, and woke up different, in terms of her accent.
Cathy Warren, a holidaymaker who hailed from the United Kingdom (UK), started speaking in a Thai accent after she woke up from her stroke.
From subathing to a bad headache
According to Cathy, she was subathing on 24 September last year, and had to get a rest after thinking she had a heat stroke due to a bad headache. However, things took a bad turn when she was walking to her birthday dinner, and her feet slowly became dysfunctional.
“My legs wouldn’t move, so my friend put me on a sun lounger and went to get help.”
The receptionist came with a wheelchair as they thought Cathy was merely drunk. Her friend, however, had to call for help again when Cathy had to crawl to the bathroom in her hotel room.
At the hospital, she was diagnosed with a stroke, and her life has since changed forever.
“I feel like I’ve lost part of my identity”
Cathy was only allowed to be discharged and return to the UK a month after she was hospitalised. It took her almost 10 months to walk independently without the help of others, and in a tragedy that took place more than 1 year ago, Cathy is still speaking with a Thai accent.
No one knew that her British accent would be gone along with her birthday celebration.
Despite undergoing speech therapy, Cathy said her Thai accent remains. She is now halfway through her recovery journey and has learned to walk again, but she is not sure if she could ever speak with a British accent again.
Cathy also mentioned that the doctor believed the change in her accent was due to her mother’s background.
“I don’t think my voice will ever be the same again. I used to have a pure British accent, but when I woke up, it was completely different.”
“My mother is Thai and speaks with a Thai accent. Now I sound a lot like her, with a Southeast Asian twang, not like a local at all,” reported The Mirror UK.
What do you think of Cathy’s changes? How would you cope if you find yourself in the same situation?
